A million words have been written and spoken about David Beckham since I broke the story on Sky Sports News on Wednesday so I figure I’ll have the last word as the hullabaloo dies down...for now!
Football in the United States changed forever on Thursday afternoon with the announcement that David Beckham would be leaving the Galacticos in Madrid to become a Galaxian, right here in Los Angeles. The deal is worth reportedly $250 million dollars for five years…’not bad money’ said his new teammate, Cobi Jones, in the understatement of the 21st century.
To be honest though, this move didn’t exactly come as a shock. Ever since Beckham opened his DB Academy at the Home Depot Center, I just had a feeling he would come to MLS sooner rather than later and I’m so pleased it is the former because at thirty one he still has so much to offer the sport. Some critics especially in England though have been quick to slag him off for this momentous decision claiming that he’s finished as a footballer and that he’s just cashing in on his celebrity and notoriety. I say to this charge…you’re just jealous.
Who in their right mind would turn down the following opportunities…?
Earn close to a million dollars a week…
Be the biggest star in American soccer and one of the biggest stars in American sport…
Become an ambassador for the world’s most popular game in the last, great untapped market…
Change the way non-believers view the sport while raising the profile of a league still in its embryonic stages…
Live in one of the world’s most desirable cities with fantastic year round weather…
Become a hero and role model to millions of young kids who are desperate for a soccer icon that they can call their own…
And finally party with TomKat every other weekend.
Sounds pretty good eh!
Why the critics argue would ‘Golden Balls’ risk the ridicule of his peers who claim that this move to the States finishes him as a top class player and puts the final nail in any attempt to add to his 94 England caps. A legitimate question I suppose and here is my answer.
David Beckham has an ego…but guess what, we all do and you can’t tell me that there is not one of us who wouldn’t do everything in their power top feed our own respective egos. Beckham’s ego would never let him go back to England to play for anyone else but Manchester United and I completely agree with this logic. Why eat canned tuna when you’ve had caviar.
As for this massive contract, well, I believe it’s just Beckham’s way of telling the world that he’s still the man and regardless of how you feel about him, you cannot deny that the team behind him are marketing geniuses…Entertainment 19, CAA and Simon Fuller take a bow.
$250 million for an ex-international and current bench warmer does seem madness when you contrast it to the salaries current members of MLS make but when compared to stars of the NFL, NBA or MLB, it’s in line with what the top players expect to earn and I think we all know that Beckham isn’t a bench warmer in the true sense of the phrase.
His current boss at Real Madrid, Fabio Capello just doesn’t fancy him as a player and to be fair, that’s the Italians right as coach however one could honestly say that he didn’t give Beck’s a fair crack in an ageing, dysfunctional team. Let’s not forget that Beckham led La Liga in assists last season, so he’s hardly past his sell-by-date. With the announcement on Saturday that Capello will refuse to play the Englishman again this season, it’ll add fuel to the fire that he has it in for the former England captain and hopefully hasten his early departure to us in March/April instead of July/August.
So is Beckham coming to America a gamble?
For Beckham no…he has hit the mother-load and if someone is willing to pay him then surely he deserves whatever he can get however for AEG it represents a serious outlay. I can’t help but wonder who is carrying the insurance policy and just HOW much it’s costing. You can bet that employees around the HDC are not allowed to even think the word…INJURY! Thankfully Beck’s has been fairly durable during his career.
But let’s get back to AEG for a second and the owner Phil Anschutz along with President & CEO Tim Leiweke...you guys rock the house. It takes brave men with huge stones to even contemplate such a move, let alone pull it off. If there is one thing soccer needs in this country, it is visionaries and with the recent passing of Lamar Hunt, you two men represent the last realistic chance for the world’s greatest sport to succeed. I applaud you both and hope that your gamble pays off in everyway you envision.
As for Beckham and whether he will succeed here in LA, I think there is no question that he’ll take the Galaxy and the league to a new level along with paving the way for other players of his stature. You know I was talking to Galaxy GM, Alexi Lalas, recently and he told me the most important quality that he, Leiweke and coach Frank Yallop looked for in a player was a good character and that is a quality that Leiweke has constantly stated that he admires in Beckham.
I can’t really attest for Beckham’s character having only met him briefly twice however the vibe I picked up from him was very cool. On both occasions he looked me in the eye despite being surrounded by loads of other notable journalists and gave me his complete attention. He’s obviously a great family man and loves his kids. It sounds like he’s had trouble in the past with his wife, Victoria, but then again who doesn’t go through rocky periods with the more important half. It’s how you come out the other side that shows your true character and I believe that his integrity will be the defining characteristic of his stay in America.
From Leytonstone to Red Devil, the England captaincy, Galactico and now Galaxian, ambassador for Major League Soccer, Beckham has always had something of a pied piper about him. Let’s hope he can now help lead the non-believers to the Promised Land.
I am not too surprised with the value of the contract, when you consider Howard Stern got twice that from Sirius and several actors receive $20-$30M to shoot a single movie.
I am surprised that Becks decided to quit on his career at 31. He will never play a big match again in his career.
I am not familiar with the Galaxy, other than reading the roster. Can Beckham make them a better team, or do they still need more re-enforcements to become a force in the MLS?
Will MLS instruct other teams to let Becks have some freedom, or will they be free to take him out of games?
What type of sports fan are the MLS expecting to attract with the arrival of Beckham? I fear the average sports fan in this country will not embrace someone like Beckham.
I don't think most football fans in Europe take him seriously anymore either, and besides, I don't think the MLS could attract many foreign fans at this point in time.
I would be very surprised if Beckham doesn't feature for the Galaxy in their season opener in April. Now that Capello and Mijatovic don't want him anymore, and all parties have enough money to make a deal to get him out of Madrid by the end of the month, it's inevitable.
I hope Beckham boosts soccer in this country, and this may be a start, but this is definately not a major step. There is not one single reason why it possibly could be.
A great, well reasoned positive look at the deal here. I think to further your argument about the ego, if he puts in the time (on the pitch, in the locker room, at all the pressers, and equally as important in the gossip rags) and MLS can execute on their vision, I think David Beckham could one day be seen in the class of Magic Johnson, Larry Bird in terms of what they mean to the stature of the sport.
It was not long ago that the NBA finals were shown tape delayed and the NBA was a fringe sport. When the NBA added Magic and Bird, they added ambassadors to the game and a storyline that non-fans could follow. I think with the Beckhams the first step is complete, and all we need now is a Michael Jordan.
The other part of this story that people ignore is the immigration fueled interest in soccer. English language sports shows don't cover the games as much (unless they also broadcast them) but for years local and national spanish channels have shown highlights and are breaking records for ratings of club and cup competitions. Demographics in this country are changing and with it the interest level in soccer - hence the packages for MLS and Euro 2008 as well as increased Champions League broadcasts in English.
With his 32nd birthday coming in May, Beckham's peak as a player is well behind him. He has done nothing meaningful since leaving United, and even then was only a small part in an already splendid team.
And you're calling him an ambassador for the world's most popular game, hero and model professional??? Just what on earth are you imbibing, Nick.
America is a the great hereafter for football, and Beckham perhaps belongs there. Good riddance, I say!
Last edited by Keropok on January 15th at 1:31 AM.
i realize all of europe is mocking beckham for this move.
yet, i respect this gifted footballer even more.
yes, he is getting paid a nice ransom.
however, he is attempting to open the lazy eyelids of this country to the beautiful game.
i also like his strategy. he plans on building soccer enthusiasm through the youth ranks. this is pretty intelligent since the youth of this country drive the commerical market. nice idea becks!
in the end, this attempt to make soccer in the us matter may not work. however, i commend becks for having the stones to try (and also while he still has gas left in the tank). ac milan wanted becks pretty bad, so i would have to say he remains a world class player.
oh yeah, and i hear edgar davids is ready to make the jump across the atlantic.
hopefully, becks is starting a trend that continues forever.
cheers nick!
cheers becks!
see you guys at this saturday's friendly versus denmark.
Nick,
Is this a great deal for David Beckham- of course! No doubts there. Is this is a good deal for Galaxy or MLS? Doubt it.
First, is anyone actually believes that Galaxy players are happy with the deal? If so, imagine that you and a few other guys at your place of employment are doing similar job, but one guy makes more in 2 weeks that rest of you combined together making in a year. How happy are you about it? I bet you'll be happy as much as Galaxy players are right now...
'..not bad money...' said his new teammate, Cobi Jones'. Yes, he did! I've heard it myself. However, that Cobi said that after a long pause and that pause tells me more then 1000 words!
What are Becks qualities? He is not a Maradona, so he can not win games on his own. Free kicks are great, but its not like he is scoring from each and every one of them. Crosses? And who will be meeting his cross on other end?
What exactly Becks will give to the league? Same thing as Freddy Adu did- attendance will increase in 2007 and then everything will go back to normal. And let's hope that Galaxy shirts with his name on it will be selling well in Thailand and Japan. Otherwise MLS will return from 13 teams to 12....
PS "...Capello will refuse to play the Englishman again this season..."- can you blame him?
If Becks is losing 50-50 ball, why Capello has to wonder whether he lost it because he lost it or he lost it because he was afraid to stick his foot out, get injured and see his $250M contract to be terminated or something else in this nature...
If players want to complain about Beckham's pay, I can understand that, but on the other hand, they need to shut up. They agreed to the contract, and Beckham will bring exposure and excitement, something the other players have not, on a national level (not speaking for myself, I love and support MLS). If they speak negatively, it is partially sour grapes.
Having said that, I would like to know who this goalie is that Trecker says makes 11k. Is that full time pay? Regardless, I think it is a sham to pay so little. I DO believe raising the salaries is needed. But like it or not, a little star power is what MLS and America need. Quit griping about what a guy makes who sells more jerseys than all MLS combined.
David Beckham quote (1/15/07): "I don't believe it is the end of my international career because I have always said, and I will always say, that while I am still playing football I will be available to play for my country".
Steve McClaren quote tomorrow: “Sure David, thanks. Wait by the phone, we’ll be in touch.”
It's definitely an investment but he's going to draw like Tiger winning his first Master's. I expect that it's going to be a while before the fever pitch dies down. I think it's a great move by LA and by Beckham. That being said, that's a LOT of pressure and a LOT of paparazzi - I just hope he's up to the task of that level of focus.
It's all just so amusing really. Nobody really hates Beckham, in fact he's always come across as a decent lad, with the exception of the occasional stupid red card.
The size of his contract is in line win any other major entertainment deals in this country. His new best pal Tom made an estimated $67M last year. For crying out loud if '50 cent' can make $41M and Howard Stern can collect a $225M bonus, Becks can rightfully collect his $50M and then some. Dr Phil made a whopping $45M last year and he doesn't even have to break a sweat.
You lost me when you started talking about Real Madrid. It sounds like you don't follow European football much or got to see much of the World Cup. They have also signed a couple youngsters you should watch, whereas Cicinho is lucky if he even makes the bench anymore.
There are too sides to the wage issue. Tom cruise may have been paid $67M but the films he made have made in excess of $500M, same with Howard Stern. Its goin to take more than a few kits and a couple thousand more people in the stand to cover those wages.
For me MLS would be better served in finding a couple steve copple type managers who will put together creative attacking teams that will entertain the fans. Ray HUdson has been the most creative manager int he league to date, IMO, and his teams always had 4-6 creative, ussually latin, players that would play creative attacking ball.
I would be in favor of MLS ckubs partnering with euro clubs, either big or mid size, ex. Real Madred like Salt lake has, and Tottenham or Newcastle, these partnerships would work in acadamy development, player developement, coaching, training a full partnership. MLS clubs should identify clubs with a history of creative attackin football that has a good history of player development and partner with these clubs.
This would also allow for some of the younger players who arent quite 1st team ready to come play in the MLS on year loan programs.
These are longer term strategies though so i dont know how well they would go over.
I guess my point is that is Becks can earn his $40m a year in incentives then he must be worth it, and his first year's $10M salary has already paid for itself in worldwide media exposure the last couple of days.
I don't think that on the field Beckham will make much difference at all. I agree that building some, or all, of the teams up with some quality foreign players is the way forward. Partnerships with big European teams would improve the quality of the league. The league needs international success at club level, and it needs fierce competition in all it's games or nobody is going to watch.
You are completely correct in saying that the MLS needs to improve it's quality somehow; otherwise it is better off with less exposure. Sports fans in the US need a reason to watch football, and Beckham is not a good reason for most other than maybe a couple of Galaxy matches.
I think its realy down to management. They need to bring in managers who kno whow to develop attacking creative teams. They can load up the squads with a collection of amercian, mexican, south american and euro players, but they need to get leaders on their teams that know how to do it ala steve copple at reading, hes just one example. they play a fluid passing attacking style that americans would love.
Rio:
Milan have actually looked much better lately. They are now only 3 points out of 4th place which is the only objective in Serie A. They had a rough summer between the WC and the scandal, but things now appear to be looking up. If it weren't for the 8 point penalty they'd be in better shape in the Serie A than Arsenal are in the EPL. Milan have great success against British teams so I hope you get your wish. They're were certainly worse teams to draw in the UCL, so I like their chances in this round at least although Celtic will be tough at Parkhead I'm sure.
Milan will probably sign Oddo from Lazio, and recently signed Grimi from Argentina. They have recently been linked with Mexes (Roma), Barzagli (Palermo), Belletti (Barca) and Ilsinho (Sao Paolo). At least they are focusing on finding younger defenders! They will have to sign a keeper this month, and they will try for Buffon, but will probably have to settle for Amelia or De Sanctis. I'd like to believe Galliani when he says that Milan will NOT sign Ronaldo, but we'll see.
Good luck against Man Utd on Sunday!
Last edited by Venti_vidi_vici on January 16th at 6:29 AM.
Sorry for the bit of shameless advertising, but I have an alternative spin to Nick's on the Beckham issue, here: http://dishbish.blogspot.com
Bottom line: a total waste of USD. So much grassroot work could have been done for that amount, which might last considerably longer than the 2 odd years of hype that Beckham could bring, at best.
First off, I would like to applaud you, Nick, for the possitive press. Too many people are slandering this deal as 'hollywood', and that Beckham is not worth it. I firmly support the deal. If you look at the likes of Michael Vick, somewhere around $37M, a god QB who doesn't make it to the Super Bowl, this deal is not -that- out there. Many people have eluded to the fact that this contract is too large. But also, you must remember that $250M is an estimate. They are estimating that Beckhams shirts will be sold to "Thailand and Japan" as put earlier. And I don't see why not. For the fan that buys jerseys to support their favorite player, Beckham's jersey is already ordered.
Also, to Keropok, I do understand what you mean about the scale of money. It is absolutely true that the money could have been spent on grass-root training. But, that's not the way it went. There are already plenty of top notch clubs over the US for kids to start playing just aged six years. But in the long run, we do have to work more on developing youngsters so they can be the top notch players to make the US be as good as possible.
I don't begrudge anyone making as much as they can in our society (except crooked ceo's and politicians) but DB will never live up to the hype that journalists are already drumming up and more than likely the American sports fan won't buy into it.
He made a sweet deal for the future, good on him.
He may sell tickets and jerseys but IMHO his impact off the pitch (celebrity sightings, cameo acting roles) will far outweigh anything he can contribute as a footballer.
Got a kick out of your's and steve's performance on fff in last night. 2 Yentas sipping tea dishing out the rumors, very funny stuff. Has Steve's #### about beckham comin gone down yet?
this signing isn't a waste of money. the US has plenty of youth opportunities for developing players. the 2 biggest hurdles for improving the league have always been these:
1) amount of money one can make. it's still low, and kids will keep picking other sports until the money available in the US picks up. (plus most kids just aren't aware of how much money you can make overseas to consider that, I know I had no idea growing up)
2) scouting. they need to identify quality earlier.
There are so many great athletes in this country, they just have to go to other sports. Chad Johnson of the Bengals recently said he wished he could have played soccer if it was a more viable option in this coutry. Can you imagine having him on the USMNT? He'd be the fastest player on earth and at 6ft3in-6ft4in he'd be a force of nature.
The possibilities are what keep me going. The signing merely signals to kids: you can make money in soccer in this country and be famous. Though it's not entirely true just yet, it's a harbinger.
P.S. Nick is the best blogger on this site. (I love Bobby too but Nick rules) They should can Trecker and give Nick all of his money on top of the salary he's getting now. When they need unfounded, baseless stories and "scoops" they can pay Trecker on a per-story basis I guess.
Last edited by BASSASAURUSREX on February 19th at 5:30 PM.
In respose to the Arsenal article, as a fan I think there is something else to add. In 2003 MU pipped us to the post even though we were the stronger team all season. In 2005 after the MU loss following our 49 unbeaten run Wenger claimes we were stuneed for several weeks later. We started much better than Chelsea and yet handed the EPL to them that year. We tend to choke. Wenger is a purist and creates the most beautiful teams but he does not have the killer instinct of a Ferguson or a Mourinho. Brute force and guts seems to win out over style. Even with the talent we are building we will not be a force to reckon with without that do or die spirit. Would I exchange "o jogo boinito" of Arsenal for the boring, win at all cost style of Chelesea? No. Yes it is about winning- and I want to as much as the next guy - but sometimes history does save a special place for the great teams that fell short. The Magyars of the 50s, The Clockwork Orange of the 70s, Brasil 82, Colombia 94 amongst others.
Who knew you could be so funny? Your Arsenal apologia on FSR was a riot. And you were as sincere as fellow would-be idol William Hung in your delivery.
Wished you'd added more about Wenger's unprofessional conduct - polonium in his game-day escargot? - and touched on whether 'Fick Phiwip' Senderos should continue playing with that big Swiss cowbell round his neck. He has been found out, hasn't he. You could have gone with 'Swiss blokes that go downhill as quickly as he is, usually do it on ski slopes.'
Keep it up Nick, coz as the soccer report crew proves nightly, dying is easy, comedy is hard.
Let them stand but charge a good amount for the tickets. It will keep most of the bumbs out and people like you will take your children to show them how you used to watch the matches as a youngster. It's now a novelty to stand, so it's worth more in today's time.
Who will break into the 'B4' and who will avoid the drop. So many questions will be answered over the next nine months because it's back - the greatest show on earth - The Barclays Premier League.
